The use of dental floss and other interdental cleaners is an important part of dental hygiene. Dental floss is used to remove plaque and other particulate matter from between the teeth and wider the gum line. These are areas in the mouth where a toothbrush typically cannot reach, and if not cleaned regularly, tooth decay and gum disease may result.
Dental floss typically comprises a mineral, animal or vegetable wax coating, which provides lubricity, and facilitates movement of the floss between teeth. Wax may also prevent the floss fibers from fraying or breaking while it is in use.
It is desirable to incorporate additives such as peroxides, flavorants, sweeteners, and anti-plaque agents into dental floss coatings to impart further therapeutic or cosmetic benefit, or to improve taste.
During manufacturing of the floss, the wax coating is typically melted, additives as described above are optionally incorporated into the molten coating, and the floss is immersed in a bath containing the molten coating. However, mineral, animal and vegetable waxes typically have melting points over 75°. At such high temperatures, some additives become unstable and lose their functionality. In particular, at such high temperatures, peroxide decomposes to oxygen and water and loses its whitening and antimicrobial activity.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a dental floss coating composition which maintains the functions of conventional wax, yet which can be applied to dental floss without negatively impacting on the stability of additives such as peroxide that are incorporated into the coating.